Former Eagle plays hits, solo work Nov. 16

'I grew up so poor I had nothing to begin with so I had nothing to lose,' said Don Felder of his decision to become a musician. 'The enthusiasm I had for music outweighed any negatives. I was enraptured.'

This summer, Don Felder and his band performed for some 250 heads of state at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

As soon as the former member of the classic rock band the Eagles played the first few notes of "Hotel California," the audience - in town for a U.N. confab - rose in applause, even those who spoke no English.

At that moment, Felder understood the success of the iconic rock classic he composed while a member of the band.

"When I sat down to write the music, I never had any idea it would go on to be as successful as it became," he said in a phone interview from his home in Southern California.

"Hotel California" will definitely be on Felder's set list when he plays the Golden Nugget Nov. 16, as will other songs he wrote for the Eagles, like "Victim of Love" and those he played lead guitar on, such as "Life in the Fast Lane," "Heartache Tonight" and "One of These Nights."

"I would say 60 to 70 percent of the show will be Eagles songs I recorded, played on tour or co-wrote. A lot of guitar work I was instrumental in," the singer-songwriter said.

While his departure from the band was acrimonious, the 27 years he spent with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group shaped his career.

"We had five guys in the band at all times and everyone could write, sing and play. We all brought specific strengths. That's why we were so successful," Felder said.

He left the band in 2001, and within a year, his marriage also dissolved.

"After that, I went through a year trying to understand how I got from the impoverished condition of my youth to a musical journey where I wound up in the Eagles."

That reflection led not only to a best-selling memoir, "Heaven and Hell: My Life in The Eagles," published in 2008, but his second solo album, "Road to Forever," released this year, both cathartic in their own ways.

"It was a double-barreled release for me," said Felder, who grew up in Gainesville, Fla., where he attended church every week. The moral compass set by those years went askew after joining the Eagles, where unbridled success came with drugs and promiscuity.

"I wanted a clear understanding of who I had become," said Felder, who added meditation to his day to help his focus. The stories he wrote for the book became the source for the music he recorded in his home studio. A musical autobiography, if you will.

"They were written from a place close to my heart," Felder said.

After spending 18 months promoting the book, he attacked the new album.

"I sketched out 26 ideas, went to the studio, recorded and finished 16, and then paired those down to the 12 best," he said.

The first single, "Fall From the Grace of God," bears the unmistakeable sound of the Eagles and Felder makes no apologies. "People know what I brought to the Eagles in the sound of my work from the band. I can't change my musical profile," said the father of five and grandfather of nine.

Felder wanted the songs to have the kind of rich harmonies associated with the Eagles, so he enlisted Crosby, Stills and Nash. Stephen Stills went to school with Felder in Gainesville, one of a number of encounters with future talents. In high school, he formed a band with Stills. He also gave guitar lessons to a teenaged Tom Petty at the local music store. And he met another future founding Eagle, Bernie Leadon, who encouraged him to come to Los Angeles.

Tommy Shaw of Styx also contributed to the album, as did David Paich and Steve Lukather from Toto, and members of Paul Simon's band. The album took a year to record and avoided all the contentiousness which marked the Eagles sessions, said Felder, who took up the guitar at 10 after seeing Elvis Presley on "The Ed Sullivan Show." At 14, he snuck into a B.B. King concert and that sealed his future. "He was amazing. That moment changed my life."

So did Felder's father, who helped him buy his first electric guitar. Dad also got a tape recorder in a swapmeet and the young musician recorded material to learn by.

"My dad was the first bootlegger."

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Former Eagle plays hits, solo work Nov. 16

This summer, Don Felder and his band performed for some 250 heads of state at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. As soon as the former member of the classic rock band the Eagles played the first few